As just over 3,000 students prepare to sit the 2024 Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE), some were lucky enough to get words of wisdom and stationery supplies from Barbados’s political leaders.
Three ministers made it part of their mission this Child Month, as has become traditional for them, to take time out for their young constituents who may be battling nervousness or anxiety over the exam.
Tourism and International Transport Minister Ian Gooding-Edghill told the students at Lawrence T Gay Memorial Primary School, “Go forward with full confidence and calm” because the teachers have prepared you. As a former resident of the nearby Long Gap, he said it’s an opportunity for him to give back at the personal level but at the individual level, it’s all about them. He said, when he thinks back to his 11-plus time, he too was “little nervous, but stay focused, remember what your teachers taught you and put your very best forward…to accomplish your desired results.”
Over at Bay Primary, in the St Michael South consistency, People Empowerment Minister Kirk Humphrey reiterated his stance of ‘people over politics’. He delivered his customary care packages to the students of Class 4 who will write the Mathematics, English and Composition papers which will see them transition on to secondary school come September.
And he sought to remove some of the mental pressure the students may have on themselves thinking about passing for “good schools”. He urged, “You know it doesn’t really matter what school you go to, what matters is that you’ve done your very best, you know that? There are some people who passed for what some think of as good schools and nothing happens, while others go to schools not thought to be the best, and they have done the most for Barbados. It just depends on what you decide to do once you get there, there are no good schools nor bad schools.”
Over in Christ Church, a busy Minister Wilfred Abrahams made time to visit his constituents at both St Christopher Primary and St Bartholomew’s Primary.
He truly engaged with the students and tried to help them overcome their nerves. Abrahams said it was “interesting” asking them what was most important to remember on Common Entrance day. Smiling he recapped, “Somebody said, to remember to write your name on the paper. Somebody said remember to carry everything you need for the exam. Remember what your teachers told you. One youngster said, remember to wake up in time. A young lady said, don’t freak out! So we had a very honest conversation…
“And at the end of the day, I told them the most important thing is, just do your best!… If you go in there and you’ve done your best, nobody can expect any more from you, and you can feel satisfied and comfortable.”
